M6 Toll

[Deleted User]

just a side thought, have you looked at blablacar.com? You could offer seats in your car to others and get your fuel paid for (as long as you don't make more than the fuel cost, the government and insurer won't regards them as paying passengers).

kerri_gt

I have driven from Berkshire (A404 to M40 to head north) to Glasgow, Manchester and Southport on several occasions.

For a number of years I poo-poohed the M6 toll stating 'I've paid my road tax already I'm not paying it again' On a number of occasions at different times of the day I made it to Scotland easily under 6hrs....on one very bad occasion it took us nearer 11hrs (three major accidents on the way up). My OH Uncle said 'just try the M6 toll' and I did.

Personally for me, I would use it every time on a journey like that (i.e a long drive, often visiting family and not that frequent) I find it a far more pleasant drive than the M6 through Birmingham whether the M6 is busy or not. I've spent hours sitting in M6 traffic and it did not make for a happy driver.

Even if there are other slow spots on the rest of the journey (we had a serious diversion once) it allows a bit of respite from the 'what next' as I've never been on the M6 Toll and found a jam.

In short, long journey - one off...take the Toll is my advise.

londonTiger

the regular m6 can be incredibly grating during rush hour. 50mph limit at the best of time but expect to do 30-40 for a lot of time as well as come to a complete stop.

that might be fine for short trips but on a long trip it is increibly frustrating.

If you're driving during that time - I'd pay the toll just to give some relief and shave 40 minutes off journey time.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

I don't use the M6 Toll (I live in the "armpit" of the M42 and the M40) partly because it is not helpful but these days the managed motorways tend to make the journey reliable if slow.

I'd tend to agree that use the M6 Toll if you hit Bham around rush hour, but otherwise it isn't value for money. That being said, as it is essentially a failure, it does tend to be reliably quiet and if you've been in a nose to tail jam it might provide relief.

Do pay attention at the south-bound split - I find the driving around there "temperamental" and you need to watch the lane selection going south at the other end, In fact, with the M6 Toll, M42 and M6 all happening around the same place, it does take a bit of care if you are not familiar in both directions.

poppasmurf_bewdley

You shouldn't need to go anywhere near the M6 Toll road going from Scotland to Southampton.

As others have said, M6/M5/ come off at Junction 11a and follow the A417/419 to the M4. If you enjoy driving through beautiful countryside, go straight over the M4 and via Marlborough, Tidworth and then Salisbury before picking up the A36/M27 into Southampton.

I'm doing exactly that journey tomorrow morning.

zagubov

londonTiger wrote: »

the regular m6 can be incredibly grating during rush hour. 50mph limit at the best of time but expect to do 30-40 for a lot of time as well as come to a complete stop.

that might be fine for short trips but on a long trip it is increibly frustrating.

If you're driving during that time - I'd pay the toll just to give some relief and shave 40 minutes off journey time.

IanMSpencer wrote: »

I don't use the M6 Toll (I live in the "armpit" of the M42 and the M40) partly because it is not helpful but these days the managed motorways tend to make the journey reliable if slow.

I'd tend to agree that use the M6 Toll if you hit Bham around rush hour, but otherwise it isn't value for money. That being said, as it is essentially a failure, it does tend to be reliably quiet and if you've been in a nose to tail jam it might provide relief.

Do pay attention at the south-bound split - I find the driving around there "temperamental" and you need to watch the lane selection going south at the other end, In fact, with the M6 Toll, M42 and M6 all happening around the same place, it does take a bit of care if you are not familiar in both directions.

Absolutely. Been driving between Scotland and Surrey for thirty years. If you take the eastern route I'd recommend the M6 Toll every single time.

Good luck finding out when the rush hour ends in Birmingham; every time I've driven the normal route it seems like everybody there owns three cars and is somehow driving them all simultaneously 24/7!

As IanMSpencer says be careful about the lanes as you come off it southbound.

You may be better using the western route that Avoriaz and Sportacus recommend; can't speak for it.

If you're still coming by car, to break up your journey for cheap petrol/meals Tesco's Carlisle J43 M6, Sainsbury BamberBridge Preston J29 M6 are all good and minutes from the M6.

I've never had an easy journey on the M1 and would recommend the M40 if possible, in which case Tesco Solihull J4 on the M42. and Banbury Tesco off the M40 are good fuelstops. The services are all overpriced.;) I'd repeat this a million times, the M6 Toll's worth the money, cos life's too short.

Mr_Mink

[quote=[Deleted User];66035911]North of Lancaster the M6 is beautiful, three lanes and hardly any traffic, and the great Tebay services.[/QUOTE]

Plus 1 for the fantastic-ness of Tebay.

harrys_dad

The problem with going M6/M5 is that the section of the M6 down to junction 8 where the M5 comes off is the busiest part. It is also often really bad getting on to the M6 from the M5 on the way back.

When you get to junction 16 going south on the M6 the displays give you a time to junction 8 for the M5. if there are no hold ups this takes 40 minutes (and 32 from junction 15). If it says over 55 it is worth using the toll road and the M42.

Similarly, when you get to junction 12 (just before the toll road) ignore the signs saying "congestion on M6" as these always come on when the managed motorway is in use between 10a and 8 (even if the limit is 60mph). The no hold up time from there to M5 junction is 12 minutes, so you can judge the hold up from that time.

The road works are currently going south between 13 and 10A, and speed is limited to 50mph, so this adds a little time.

If using that western route (Via Swindon/Cirencester) on the way back you can avoid the M5/M6 junction by coming off the M5 north at junction 6 and following the A449 through Kidderminster and Wolverhampton to where it joins the A5 at Gailey and then on to junction 12 of the M6. This adds about 20 minutes to the journey but can be worth it if the M5/M6 junction is chocker.

mgdavid

harrys_dad wrote: »

The problem with going M6/M5 is that the section of the M6 down to junction 8 where the M5 comes off is the busiest part. It is also often really bad getting on to the M6 from the M5 on the way back.
.......

this is misleading as one has to go as far as 11A whether taking the Toll or not. The only bit that needs considering isJ11A down to J8 (the M5 start) and that is only 10 miles. If you average 20 mph instead of 60 on this stretch you are going to add 20 minutes to your journey. Instead of ending up on the wrong side of Brum and risking more congestion on the M42 to get back to where you want to be in the first place.
Unless there's a bad accident it's best to just stick with it.
Similarly on the return route you might lose 5 to 10 minutes at the M5>M6 junction; avoiding it by using the 449 results in a 40-mile trek on poor A-roads, right across Wolverhampton, running further risk of typical urban jams and slow going, plus the increased workload of navigating.
I will say however, if you plan to break the journey in the Brum area then use the toll road as it has the quietest and most civilised service area in the entire southern half of the country due to hardly anybody using the toll road!

agrinnall

mgdavid wrote: »

.I will say however, if you plan to break the journey in the Brum area then use the toll road as it has the quietest and most civilised service area in the entire southern half of the country due to hardly anybody using the toll road!

It probably is the quietest for the reason you give, but perhaps not the most civilised now that Gloucester services is open on the M5, which is run by the people who own Tebay (I haven't been there yet so I'm making an assumption that it will have a similar philosophy behind it).